The Act! Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Act! in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Act!
The Insider’s Guide
CRM and email marketing platform for small businesses
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among CRM tools, read from Act!’s own pages.
Made by Act! LLC · checked Oct 6, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Act!’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Act!’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 6, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.4
GPA, above 19 of the 48 other CRM tools we grade
Act! is a CRM for small businesses that pairs contact, activity and opportunity management with built-in email marketing. The cloud product, Act! Advantage, comes in three per-user tiers that add AI summaries, project management and full marketing automation as they rise, with quotes, payments, forms, surveys, website chat and appointment scheduling included. A self-managed desktop edition, Act! Premium Desktop, is sold separately.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about Act!, taken from its own pages and our grades.
- 1
Best for CRM and email marketing from one vendor
Texts and desktop sync are add-ons, and our listing names no API.
- 2
Paid plans start at $30 a month for each person
As its pricing page puts it: $30 per user / month, billed annually.
- 3
You can try it first
14-day free trial, no credit card required
- 4
It runs on 3 platforms
Web, iOS and Android.
- 5
Contact and activity management
Each contact record holds emails, documents, notes and history alongside scheduled calls, meetings and to-dos, with groups, lookups and advanced queries to segment the database.
- 6
Opportunity pipeline
Opportunities follow a configurable sales process and can be worked on a drag-and-drop kanban board or in a pipeline view with KPIs such as close rate and closed-won value.
- 7
Built-in email marketing
Email campaigns with a template editor and tracking come with every cloud tier, with monthly send limits of 2,500, 25,000 and 50,000. Nurture campaigns start on Professional.
- 8
A 2.4 GPA, above 19 of 48
That is against the other CRM tools we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
To replace Act! you would be making email sent in volume that still reaches the inbox. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
Act! at a glance
- Pricing
- Free trial, from $30 per user / month, billed annually
- Free plan
- No
- Free trial
- 14-day free trial, no credit card required
- Runs on
- Web, iOS, Android
- Made by
- Act! LLC
- Category
- CRM Software
- Our grade
- 2.4 GPA, fair
The report card
Best for CRM and email marketing from one vendor
Act! is a small-business CRM with email marketing built in: contacts, a pipeline, quotes, payments, booking, forms and surveys in one subscription, plus a desktop edition you run yourself. It's $30 a user billed for the year, with no monthly option shown, AI tools wait for Professional at $45 and marketing automation for Ultimate at $60. Texts and desktop sync are add-ons, and our listing names no API.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C | Standard is $30 a user a month against a $24 middle for CRMs here, which puts it in the dearer quarter, though email marketing, quotes, payments and booking come with it. AI tools wait for Professional at $45, marketing automation for Ultimate at $60, and text messaging is an add-on from $19. |
| Free plan and trial | C | No free plan. There's a 14-day trial that doesn't ask for a card, which is the ordinary arrangement. After that every listed price is billed for the year, so you're deciding on twelve months at once. |
| Features | B | Contact history, a kanban pipeline with KPIs, email campaigns, online quotes, card and ACH payments, booking, web forms, surveys, website chat and event pages. That covers sales and marketing in one place. On Standard, though, forms, surveys, chat and event pages each come with just one designated user. |
| Ease of use | C | No store rating on record, and this is a big product to settle into: a configurable sales process, campaign templates, lookups and queries, and mailbox and calendar accounts to connect first. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | Web, iPhone and Android, with a separate self-managed desktop edition for offline access at $40 a user. It works with Outlook, Microsoft 365, Gmail, Google Calendar, Excel and Word, but our listing names no API. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Act! is for
- Fits if you want your CRM and your email campaigns from one vendor
- Works for teams that want a desktop CRM they run themselves, with offline access, at $40 a user
Who it is not for
- Skip it if you want to pay monthly, as the pricing page only shows annual billing
- Pricey if you want marketing automation and lead scoring, which need Ultimate at $60 a user
- Not for you if you want a free plan, because there's only a 14-day trial
- Watch out: texting is an add-on from $19 a month, and Desktop Sync adds $10 a user to cloud plans
- Tight if you're on Standard, with 2,500 email sends a month and one designated user for forms, surveys and chat
Good to know
Good for
- Small businesses that want CRM and email marketing from one vendor
- Insurance, financial services and manufacturing firms, which Act! targets
- Teams that need a self-managed desktop CRM with offline access
Worth knowing
- There is no free plan, and every listed price is billed annually; the pricing page shows no monthly option.
- AI tools, project management and accounting integration start on Professional; marketing automation and lead scoring need Ultimate.
- SMS text messaging is an add-on from $19 a month, and Desktop Sync adds $10 per user a month to cloud plans.
- On Standard, surveys, website chat, web forms and event pages each include only one designated user.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$30
A month to start, for each person
Act! is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $30 per user / month, billed annually.
After that every listed price is billed for the year, so you're deciding on twelve months at once.
Act! Advantage Standard
$30
per user / month, billed annually
Cloud CRM and mobile app, basic email marketing with 2,500 sends a month, quotes, payments, scheduling, reports and 15 GB of storage.
Act! Premium Desktop
$40
per user / month, billed annually
Self-managed, on-premises edition with networked and offline access; you deploy the software and control when it updates.
Act! Advantage Professional
$45
per user / month, billed annually
Adds 25,000 email sends a month, nurture campaigns, AI History Summary, AI Writing Assistant, accounting integration, project management and 25 GB.
Act! Advantage Ultimate
$60
per user / month, billed annually
Adds marketing automation with 50,000 sends a month, lead scoring, custom industry tables, an online customer portal and 35 GB of storage.
Enterprise Engagement
Custom
Private hosting, custom deployment, a dedicated project manager and a custom enterprise agreement. Priced by phone quote.
Trying it first
14-day free trial, no credit card required
Read from act.com on Oct 6, 2026.
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
3
Places it runs: Web, iOS and Android
CRM and email marketing platform for small businesses. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: AI features, booking links, sales pipeline, marketing automation, forms, surveys, reports.
That covers sales and marketing in one place.
- Contact and activity management
- Each contact record holds emails, documents, notes and history alongside scheduled calls, meetings and to-dos, with groups, lookups and advanced queries to segment the database.
- Opportunity pipeline
- Opportunities follow a configurable sales process and can be worked on a drag-and-drop kanban board or in a pipeline view with KPIs such as close rate and closed-won value.
- Built-in email marketing
- Email campaigns with a template editor and tracking come with every cloud tier, with monthly send limits of 2,500, 25,000 and 50,000. Nurture campaigns start on Professional.
- Quotes, payments and scheduling
- Interactive online quotes, card and ACH payments through Act! Payments and online appointment booking are included. A shared team booking calendar needs Professional.
- Forms, surveys, chat and events
- Web lead forms, online surveys, website chat and event sign-up pages feed contacts into Act!. Standard includes one designated user for each; higher tiers cover all users.
- AI tools
- AI History Summary recaps recent contact activity and the AI Writing Assistant drafts marketing content. The pricing page lists both from the Professional tier.
Where it runs
- Web
- iOS
- Android
What it works with
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft 365
- Gmail
- Google Calendar
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Word
Act! is made by Act! LLC.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
19/48
Other CRM tools it is graded above
Act!'s GPA of 2.4 is higher than 19 of the 48 other CRM tools we grade, and level with 15.
It stands best on features (B, above 18 of 48) and worst on ease of use (C, above 1).
Its paid plans start at $30 a month for each person, against a middle price of $24 for the category: 33 of the 46 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 7 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 49 CRM tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Act!’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 18 of 48
- CFree plan and trialAbove 4 of 48
- BFeaturesAbove 18 of 48
- CEase of useAbove 1 of 48
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 5 of 48
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 47 CRM tools. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Act! is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
To replace Act! you would be making email sent in volume that still reaches the inbox. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It costs $360 a year.
What you could make
- Sales pipeline, forms, surveys and reports: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- Email sent in volume that still reaches the inbox.
- Booking pages that read and write other people's calendars and send the emails.
- A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- It plugs into other products, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft 365 and Gmail among them.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Act!’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Keap, Nutshell, Insightly, Zoho CRM and Less Annoying CRM
The 5 tools Act! is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.2GPA
Keap
Free trial · from $299/mo
CRM with sales and marketing automation for small businesses.
- Act! also covers surveys and reports.
- Keap also covers workflow automation and invoicing.
- 2.4GPA
Nutshell
Free trial · from $13/mo
Sales CRM with email marketing, forms and AI built into every plan.
- Act! also covers marketing automation and surveys.
- Nutshell also covers workflow automation.
- 2.2GPA
Insightly
Free trial · from $29/mo
CRM with built-in project management for after the sale.
- Act! also covers booking links, marketing automation, forms and surveys.
- Insightly also covers tasks and workflow automation.
- 2.6GPA
Zoho CRM
Free plan · from $14/mo
Sales CRM with a free edition, process automation and Zia AI.
- Zoho CRM has a free plan. Act! does not, though it has a free trial.
- Act! also covers booking links, marketing automation, forms, surveys and reports.
- Zoho CRM also covers workflow automation.
- 2.4GPA
Less Annoying CRM
Free trial · from $15/mo
Simple CRM for small businesses at one flat per-user price.
- Only Act! lists iOS and Android apps.
- Act! also covers booking links, marketing automation and surveys.
- Less Annoying CRM also covers tasks and calendar.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
12
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Act! free?
No, Act! is a paid product, but you can try it first. 14-day free trial, no credit card required.
How much does Act! cost?
Act! lists 5 plans. Act!
What platforms does Act! work on?
Act! is available on Web, iOS and Android.
Does Act! have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 6, 2026. Act! is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Does Act! have a macOS app?
No macOS app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 6, 2026. Act! is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Is Act! open source?
Act! is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 6, 2026.
What does Act! integrate with?
Act!'s listing names Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft 365, Gmail, Google Calendar, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word.
Who makes Act!?
Act! is made by Act! LLC.
What are the alternatives to Act!?
The closest alternatives to Act! in our directory are Keap, Nutshell, Insightly, Zoho CRM and Less Annoying CRM.
How does Act! compare with other CRM tools?
Act!'s GPA of 2.4 is higher than 19 of the 48 other CRM tools we grade, and level with 15.
Is Act! good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Act! C for value for money.
Could I make my own version of Act!?
To replace Act! you would be making email sent in volume that still reaches the inbox.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Act!’s own pages on Oct 6, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 10, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Act!'s own pages on 6 October 2026. Its pricing page would not load when we went back to check it. Also tested with a demo account on 2026-05-25.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Act! LLC. Prices change, so check act.com before you buy.
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
3,189
Tools graded, in 94 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
3,189
tools graded
94
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Act!, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/act
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Act!: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 6, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/act
Know someone choosing between CRM tools?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/act/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded CRM tools after Act!, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- CRM Software Insider's GuideEvery one of the 49 CRM tools we grade, compared
- HubSpot Insider's GuideFree CRM at the center of a marketing, sales and service suite3.2 GPA
- Bigin by Zoho CRM Insider's GuidePipeline-based CRM from Zoho for small businesses2.8 GPA
- Bitrix24 Insider's GuideFlat-priced CRM with tasks, chat, video calls and a site builder2.8 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Act!’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Act! is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Act! LLC. Prices and plans change: check act.com before you buy.